Automatic rifle



E. HNNI AND H. STAMM.

AUTOMATIC RIFLE.

APPLICATION menus. 27, 191s.

Patented July 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET-1.

E. HNNI AND H. lSTAI/IM.

AUTOMATIC RIFLE.

APPLICATION FILED fm2?. 191s.

1,346,494. Patented July 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I, III

.Ilm-WEI STATES". PATENT OFFICE.

ERNsT HANNI, 0F ARBON, AND HANS sTAiviiu, oF sT. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND AssIGNoRs To FIRMA A DoLPI-IR SAUBER, 0R ARBON, SWITZERLAND,

FIRM or SWITZERLAND.

Y AUTOMATIC RIFLE.

Specification of Tietters Patent.

Patented July 13, 19.20.

Application filed February 27, 1918. Serial No. 219,512.

To all whom imag concern.- I

Be it known that we, ERNST HNNI, a citizen ofthe Republic of Switzerland, residing at Arbon, Switzerland, and I-IANs STAMM, a citizen of the Republic of Swit-y zerland, residing at St. Gallen, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Rifles, and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact ydescription of the in vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures yof reference marked thereon, which form a part of'this specification.

This'iiivention relates to automatic rifles provided with a sliding barrel. In such rifles it frequently occurs, that when the rifle is ready tobe fired, z'. e. when the barrel should be in its foremost position and the closing vspring for the-barrel or breech action is'nearly vwholly untensioned, the barrel or .thebreech action or both are moved somewhat backward in consequence of a manipulation causing, for instance, the rifle to knock against the'ground, and partly also in consequence of their gravity. vVhen the striker is cocked, the striking spring is also ableto pull the'barrel and the breech action slightly backward; The result of such a rearward movement is,lthat the rifle misses fire.

` To remedy this drawback, it has already been proposed to provide devices for vlocking the'sliding barrel of rifles ready to be ffired. These vknown devices, however, release the barrel too early 0n actuation of the trigger, the Vreleasing being effected while theV striker still'cocked, so that notwithstanding the provision of such devices the barrel may be still moved backward before a shot has been4 red. liiiccordingto the present invention, this drawback is tobe remedied by providing lon an automaticriiie with `a sliding barrel 'a device for locking/the barrel whilethe Istriker is cocked, which is automatically released Vimmediately after 4that the releasing of the stri-ker is effected and before the latter strikes against the cartridge, e. be-

.Two forms of construction of the invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings. y

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of the first embodiment, illustrating the device for locking the barrel in the operative position.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view, showing the'parts of the locking mechanism in the position, which they assume immediately before the releasing of the barrel.

T1 F ig. 3 is a bottom view corresponding to nig. 1.

Fig. l is a section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a side view, partly in section, of the second embodiment illustrating the locking mechanism in its operative position.

F ig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through a part of this embodiment, showing the locking mechanism in a position, in which the barrel is unlocked.

Fig. 7 illustrates a detail and F ig. S is a cross-section on the line VIII- VIII of Fig. 5.

In the first embodiment shown, 1 denotes the barrel and 2 the breech frame. 8 is a guiding lug provided on one side of the breech frame 2 and adapted to slide in a groove d of a casing 5. The breech frame 2 forming an extension rigidly connected with the barrel 1 enters into the casing when the barrel 1 is movedl rearward. G denotes a sear provided with a lug 7. This scar is acted upon by a spring 8 and by a pawl 10 pivotaily mounted on the trigger 9. The latter is pivotally carried by a lever 22 adapted to pivot about a boit 12 and acted upon by a spring 13. The bolt 12 is mountcd in the casing 5. 11 is the striker provided with a lng 14 adapted to coperate with the lug 7 of the sear 6.

In this first embodiment, the underside of the casing is provided with two eXtensions '15, 16. In the extension 15 is pivotally mounted a locking lever 17 andin the extension 16 a pressure member 18 acting upon the locking lever 17. The locking lever 17 haslan end surface 19, which in the foremost position of the barrel V1 rests on a surface E20 of the guiding lug 3. 21 vis aof the breech spring acting upon one end of the locking lever 17. One end of the pressure member 18 acts from beneath upon that end of the locking lever 17, which is acted upon by spring 21, while the other end of this member 18 rests on a lug 23 provided lon the lever 22.

When the barrel is in its foremost position and the strikcrvll is cocked, z'. e. before a shot is fired (seev Fig. 1), the surface 19 rests on the surface 20, so that the barrel, together with the breech frame and the breech action adapted to be rigidly connected to said frame, are locked in this position. Any engagement of the lever 17 with a part of the breech frame or breech action results in such a locking of the barrel. When the trigger 9 is pulled backward for the purpose of firing a shot, lug 23 presses upon the member 18 and the latter presses then upon the locking lever 17. In consequence of this, the lever 17 is moved in such a manner, that its locking surface 19 is caused to disengage the surface`20, so that the barrel 1 together' with the breech frame 2 and the breech action are released. They are now able to effect a longitudinal displacement. Owing l0 said pulling on the trigger 9, the scar G is pressed downward simultaneously with said releasing movement, and upon the surpassing of the so-called pressure point, the striker 11 is released.

The arrangement is thereby such, that the releasing of the barrel, and therefore also frame and the breech action rigidly connected thereto, by the lever 17 is effected immediately after the releasing of the striker 11 and before the latter strikes against the cartridge (Fig. 2 shows the parts in the position immediately before the barrel is released). On the releasing of the trigger 9, the spring 21 causes the locking lever 17 and the pressure member 18 to return into their original position, so that the barrel and the breech action, which are already moved into their foremost position before the trigger 9 is released, are again automatically locked.

In the second embodiment of the inven tion, a fork-shaped lever 24 is pivotally mounted on the same bolt on which is pivotally mounted the sear 6. The lever 24 stands, iu the same manner as the scar 6, under the pressure of springs 25 and it is provided with two lugs 26, 27. Lug 27 c0- operates with a projection 28 of the breech action 29. The lug 26 is provided with an inclined surface and projects with a knifeedge in the direction of the front aperture of the barrel. The breech frame 2 is provided on its underside with a lug 30 having an inclined surface and a knife-edge projecting rearward.

In the foremost position of the barrel, the knife-edge of the lug 26 comes behind the knife-edge of the lug 30 so that the barrel, together with the breech action, is locked in this position. In this position, the lu 14 of the striker presses against the luer of the sear 6, so that the rifle is rea y for [iring (Fig. 5). 0n the pulling on the trigger 9, for the purpose of firinga-shot, the

pawl 10 presses the sear 6 and the lever 24 downward, so that the lugs 7 and 26 disengage the lugs 14 and 30 respectively. The striker 11 is thenl released and the barrel is unlocked, so that it can be displaced longitudinally, said unlocking being effected also in this embodiment immediately after the releasing of the striker and before the latter strikes against the cartridge. Durin the forward sliding movementof the barre and of the breech frame taking place after that a shot has been fired, the inclined surface of the lug 30 coperates with the inclined surface of the lug 26, so that the lu 30 causes the lever 24 to move downwar i. In ronsequeme of this, the breech action 29, which during the forward movement of the barrel was at first held back owing to the engagement of the projection 28 with the lug 27, is now released and at the moment,y

at which the barrel reaches its end position the knife-edge of the lu 26 is immediately caused to engage behin the knife-edge of the lugs 30, so that the barrel is again locked a ainst any longitudinal movement.

Accor( ing to this invention the barrel,

and therefore also the breech action, is auto matically locked and the releasing of the barrel is effected by the actuation of the trigger. No special manipulations are therefore required for locking or releasing the barrel and the breech action, s'o that the handli of the fire-arm is not rendered ,more difficu t owing tothe provision of the locking mecha# nism. i

It will be seen, that in ments shown the device according to the invention effects directly a locking of the rigid integral piece formed by the barrel and the breech frame.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In an automatic rifle, a sliding barrel, a breech frame connected rigidly with the barrel, a breech action adapted to be rigidly connected to the breech frame, a striker the two embod- "i mounted in the breech action, a casing into which the sliding barrel, together with the .breech frame, is adapted to enter, means for retaining the striker in cocked position, means for locking the barrel when the striker is cocked, a trigger carried by the breechframe provided with a lug and connectedthereto, when the striker is cocked, a

j vtrigger carried by the casing, and means operatively connected to such trigger and operated therebyV for releasing the striker and releasing the barrel automatically immediately aftera releasing ofthe striker and before the striker strikes against the care tridge.

3. In an automatic rie, a sliding barrel,

' a breech frame provided with a lug and convso nected rigidly With the barrel, a breech ac-r tion, adapted to be rigidly connectedV to the breech frame, a striker mounted in the breech action, a casing into Which the sliding barrel, together with the breech frame, is adapted to enter, means mounted on the casing for cocking the striker, a lever pivotally mounted on the casing and provided with a lug, springsacting upon the lever for the purpose of bringing its lug behind the lug of the breech frame in order to lock the latter, and therefore also the barrel rigidly connected thereto, Whenthe striker is cocked, a trigger Vcarried, by the casing, and means operatively connected With the trigger and with the means for cocking the striker and the spring pressed lever'to release the striker and the barrel immediately after the striker is released and before the striker strikes against the cartridge.

4. ln an automatic rifle, a sliding barrel, a breech frame provided with a lug on its rearward end and forming an extension rigidly connected With the barrel, a breech action adapted to be rigidly connected to the breechA frame, a striker mounted in the breech action and provided With a lug, a casing into which the sliding barrel, together with the breech frame, is adapted to enter, a sear pivotally mounted on the casing and adapted to engage the lug of the striker for the purpose of cocking the latter, a spring pressing on the sear, a lever also pivotally mounted on the casing and provided With tWo lugs, one of the latter being adapted to cooperate with the lug of the breech frame for the purpose of locking the frame, and therefore also the barrel, when the striker is cocked, While the other one of said lugs is adapted to lock the breech action at the beginning of forward sliding movement of the barrel until it is e caused to release the breech action under the influence of the lug on the breech frame acting upon the other lug of the lever, springs acting on this lever and a trigger carried by ERNST HNNI. HANS STAMM. 

